


Complications

by MiraculousLBfangirl (fdmflavia)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Comfort, Confessions, F/M, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hurt, Identity Reveal, Kagami Tsurugi freeform, Messed relashionship, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, Misunderstandings, Oblivious heroes, a bit of humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-04-26 02:54:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14392758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fdmflavia/pseuds/MiraculousLBfangirl
Summary: A snowball of misunderstandings brings complications that put our heroes in a tight situation.“You know we have to leave whatever we’re doing in our civilian lives when an akuma strikes, right?” Chat Noir just nodded, he knew it was a rhetorical question and just waited for her to continue. “I had to ditch a date with my boyfriend today.” She kept looking at the horizon avoiding his gaze. She was aware that she was breaking his heart and he couldn’t blame her. She had warned him that there was someone else. “I am used to lying to my friends and family, but… I wonder how long it will take to him start thinking that I’m cheating on him. Because I know that this will happen again.” She spared her partner a glance and lowered her head again. “Sorry, Chat Noir. I know how you feel about me and…”





	1. Ladybug's boyfriend

**Author's Note:**

> My oblivious kids. Another silly thought turned into a fic. Hope you like it.
> 
> Please leave kudos and/or comments. I need to know if you like my story or not.

Ladybug heard a soft thud behind her. She had come to the Eiffel Tower to think, her life was becoming more and more complicated. Her feline partner was the last person she wanted to see at that moment. To be true, Tikki was the only one that she could talk about this, since it mixed both sides of her life.

“It’s unlike you to be out so late, Bug? Is there anything going on that I’m not aware of?” asked Chat Noir still standing next to her. 

“No. I just wanted to think. The view here helps me to clear my mind.” 

“What’s bothering you?” He asked then sat beside her hugging one leg with the other dangling on the edge of the Tower.

“Personal stuff. Nothing I can share.” Was all she offered. 

Chat Noir studied her for a while in silence. She was beautiful as always, illuminated by the moonlight, but sadness was marring her face. 

“Come on. Whatever it is, really disturbs you. You can tell me anything, just be vague.” 

“I hate lying to my friends and family.” He noticed that she seemed uncertain.

“I hate this part too. Maybe the worst side of a double life. What happened?” He insisted.

“I don’t think I can tell you. It doesn’t seem right.” Ladybug lowered her head.

She wanted to tell, he could feel it, but he didn’t press. Then he just stayed there looking at the horizon without really seeing it, just wondering what was making his lady so pensive. He couldn’t tell how long he sat there wanting to hug her and make jokes to dissipate her sadness. He wouldn’t even try, she seemed unreachable, lost in her own world. Eventually she sighed.

“You know we have to leave whatever we’re doing in our civilian lives when an akuma strikes, right?” Chat Noir just nodded, he knew it was a rhetorical question and just waited for her to continue. “I had to ditch a date with my boyfriend today.” She kept looking at the horizon avoiding his gaze. She was aware that she was breaking his heart and he couldn’t blame her. She had warned him that there was someone else. “I am used to lying to my friends and family, but… I wonder how long it will take to him start thinking that I’m cheating on him. Because I know that this will happen again.” She spared her partner a glance and lowered her head again. “Sorry, Chat Noir. I know how you feel about me and…”

“It’s ok. It hurts, but I'll be fine. Ahm, about your situation, yeah, it's complicated. I mean, you can’t tell him who you are and you disappear out of nowhere. I don’t even know what to tell you.” He wanted to tell her that with him she wouldn’t have that problem. That he would understand her and be by her side. It was a shame he couldn’t say those words.

“I wasn’t expecting you to give me a solution, but you helped, you know, listening. Thanks and sorry again.” She said sheepishly.

“No problem…” Chat Noir looked away and cleared his throat “So you manage to win over that guy.” He looked at her quizzically when she didn’t say anything “You did, didn’t you?”

“Well… hum… It’s not him.” She avoided his gaze again.

Chat Noir felt as if his heart was being ripped and crushed out of his body, he couldn’t breathe. The tightness in his throat was too much to bear. He felt the urge to run, so he stood up and managed to say.

“I have to go” he had his baton ready to vault when he felt her hand gripping his arm.

“Wait” he looked from her to her hand, but she didn’t let go “Let me explain” she pleaded.

“Explain!? How are you going to explain?” She released his arm at his angry words. “When you said you liked that guy I backed off, I gave you space because I respected your feelings. I thought that if you decided to move on, you would give me a chance. And then… now you are dating another guy? How am I supposed to cope with that?” he didn’t mean to put so much fury in his words, but he couldn’t help it. He was hurt, deeply. 

Her startled face became guilty. “That’s why I didn’t want to tell you. I know that it seems like I don’t care, but it’s quite the opposite.”

“Opposite?” He laughed sarcastically.

“I care about you, Chat Noir, dearly.” He just gave her an unimpressed look “I hadn’t moved on… at all.”

“You are dating another guy. How can you expect me to believe you hadn’t moved on? For heaven’s sake Ladybug, I’m not this naïve.” He couldn’t decide if he wanted to leave or stay to hear what she had to say. His traitorous heart decided for him. 

“The guy I like sees me only as a friend and my best friend… she said that I should move on and when this boy, that I’m currently dating, appeared she pressured me. I wouldn’t hear none of it, but then her boyfriend and his best friend, that so happens to be the boy I like started pressuring me as well. I couldn’t take it.” She looked at him desperate for him to understand “You know how impulsive I am. Then I accepted to go on a date and here I am, with a boyfriend that I would rather be only friends with, a double life that I don’t know how to handle and the most important boy in my life hating me. I’m a disaster.” 

Chat Noir could see tears starting to form in the corner of her eyes and struggled not to embrace her. He couldn’t be so weak and give in with just a set of words. 

“You are not a disaster and I don’t hate you.” He offered.

“I said that I wouldn’t toy with your feelings and I’m keeping my promise. Please, say you understand me.” She pleaded with watering eyes.

“I do, but it doesn’t make it hurt less.” She looked at her feet but he lifted her chin with his index finger. “This boy you like is an idiot if you want my opinion.” The start of a smile curled her lips slightly and his heart skipped a beat. 

“He has no idea I like him… and he is friends with my boyfriend. He just supported his friend. That’s all.” Sadness was in her eyes again.

“Is he a good guy? I mean… your boyfriend?” he turned his back to her leaning on a beam, not wanting to look directly at her at the moment.

“He is. He's funny, gentle and cares about me. He supports me and helps me in a lot of things. Oh sorry, I’m rambling.” 

Chat gulped. He had wished that the guy was a bad one so he could talk Ladybug out of it, but as it was and the way she talked he just resigned himself. A month ago he had put his growing feelings for Marinette aside admitting that Luka was a great match for her. They seemed happy together and he loved Ladybug after all. Now he was given up on his lady. It was hard, but it had to be done.

“I’m glad to hear this. I want you to be happy. You are my best friend.” He squeezed his eyes briefly “But I want you to know that I won’t wait for you anymore.” Ladybug concealed her surprise with a smile. “There’s this girl I’m friends with. No, I don’t like her like that, but I need to take you out of my head and I’ll give it a shot.” 

Now was Ladybug’s turn to feel her heart being crushed. She had taken Chat Noir’s love for granted. A mistake that she was starting to regret. She could only hope their partnership wouldn’t fall apart. 

“I wish you the best, Chat.” She faked a smile.

“Same here.” He prepared to leave “Just know that I’m always here for you, if you need me.” 

“Me too.” Ladybug murmured with tears streaming down her face as she watched him go.


	2. Adrien's girlfriend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug's and Chat Noir's relationship is the talk of the town and Marinette learns that Adrien had gotten a girlfriend.

Alya stared at her phone and groaned catching the attention of her friends. Luka and Nino had decided to take their girlfriends to the movies after the stressing week they seemed to be having. They were now outside the cinema waiting for the time to enter.

“What are you mad at, Alya?” asked Luka pulling his own girlfriend closer to him by the waist. 

“My followers at the Ladyblog are demanding answers that I don’t have and it’s driving me crazy.” She said tightening her grip on the phone almost crushing it.

“That’s why we are here; for you to relax.” Nino kissed her forehead “Turn off the phone, baby.” He advised giving her a soft smile. 

“What are they asking?” Insisted Luka. Marinette mentally scolded her boyfriend for his lack of tact. He was great at expressing his feelings with music, but when it came to talking he was the worst. Hadn’t he heard Nino?

“They want to know about Ladybug’s and Chat Noir’s odd behavior during this week.” Marinette shifted uncomfortably at the mention of her alter ego’s name. “They seem to have had an argument of some sorts, but I can’t just make assumptions.”

“I noticed that they barely talked and Chat didn’t flirt with her at all. Do you think that they broke up?” asked Luka.

Marinette tried to keep her face neutral, but inside she was completely unsettled. In the first attack after their argument they had tried to keep their normal banter, but failed miserably. Chat wasn’t calling her ‘my lady’ nor flirting and it felt artificial. So, they focused on the battle. The second attack demanded a lot of touching and things got embarrassing, to say the least. Chat had left the scene before the end of the battle due to the timing of his miraculous and she hadn’t seen him since then. Both of them were avoiding the press and Alya was suffering the consequences.

“They aren’t a couple or, at least, it was what they said. I don’t really know.” Alya rested her head on Nino’s shoulder discouraged. It hurt Marinette to know that she was the cause of her friend’s dismay and she intervened. 

“Come on. Let’s go inside and relax a little.” The secret hero snuggled up on her boyfriend seeking for some comfort for herself. Even him being the source of all this, he wasn’t the one to blame. He hadn’t been nothing more than caring and sweet to her.

“It’s a shame that Adrien won’t come with us. He would love this film” said Nino as they entered the cinema. 

“Yeah. He won’t join us peasants now that he has a girlfriend on his own.” Luka joked.

Marinette stifled a gasp and glanced at Alya that looked at her apologetically and mouthed “Sorry”. Marinette recomposed herself and feigned not to be surprised. 

“I can’t believe that Adrien said that.” Marinette couldn’t fathom the idea of such a thing. It was unlike Adrien. 

“He didn’t. Chloé did” Nino stated.

“He’s dating Chloé?” Marinette couldn’t help the surprise in her voice this time and her three companions laughed earning glares from the people in the snacks line.

“No girl. Chloé just likes to gloat about how Adrien is dating Kagami, a high level girl and not a peasant like us.” Alya said and Marinette understood that she was the peasant. “It was quite the surprise to see how cool Chloé was with this.” 

“It sure was.” Nino agreed “Now, the film is about to start.”

Marinette closed herself in thoughts. Of course Adrien was dating Kagami, she should have seen it coming. If only it have happened before she started dating Luka, she could have moved on and be with Chat Noir. What was beyond her understanding were Adrien’s attitudes. Thinking back on the week, he had been distant, but she never thought that it was because of a girlfriend. Would he become a stuck up boy? What if he abandoned his friends? She didn’t want to lose his friendship too. Her life was a mess and she couldn’t feel more dejected. 

The next day she hid herself beside the staircase of the school with the excuse that she just wanted to see if Adrien was really dating Kagami. He hadn’t mentioned anything in class and had barely spared a word to her the whole week. The fencing class had already ended and some students were already coming out. She buried herself deeper against the wall when Adrien and Kagami started descending the stairs.

“You shouldn’t be doing this, Marinette. This is stalking.” Chastised her kwami, but soon hide when Adrien stopped with his back to the staircase’s sidewall where Marinette was hidden.

“That move you’ve made was pretty smart. Where did you learn that?” Marinette heard Kagami’s awed voice.

“I’ve been practicing outside school. I can teach you if you want.” By his tone of voice Marinette assumed that he was smiling. His sweet smile directed to Kagami.

“Of course I want. It’ll be a way to impress my mother… I hope.” There was sadness in her voice and Marinette wondered if her mother was as strict as Adrien’s father.

“Oh, come here.” Marinette peeked over the wall and saw Adrien embracing Kagami lovingly. Jealousy came over her and she wished that she had heard Tikki. It was too painful to see this. 

“You’ve been a light in my life Adrien. I’m so happy to have such a caring boyfriend.” 

“You make me happy too, you know. We have a lot in common.” They stayed silent in each other arm’s until Adrien’s bodyguard arrived and they both entered the car leaving Marinette behind with her heart being crushed unbeknownst to them. 

 

Later that night, Ladybug sat atop the Eiffel Tower. A little more than a week ago she had been there to think about the mess her life was becoming and all she did was to turn it bigger. She felt as if all her luck had been drained from her. Adrien had a girlfriend that Marinette wouldn’t even dare to compare herself with. They were from different worlds. Adrien’s world, she thought bitterly. She still had the problem with her boyfriend about her disappearances. She considered breaking up with him, but she had nothing as an excuse. Everybody said that they made a great couple and they actually did. 

She sighed. Chat Noir. Among all the things that were wrong in her life at that moment, her relationship with him was what was upsetting her the most. She wasn’t able to take his pained expression out of her mind. She knew he was important to her, but only now she was realizing how much he really meant to her. She wished she could use a luck charm to fix this mess. 

Ladybug had gone to the Eiffel Tower in hopes that he would show up to see what was happening as he normally did when she was out when there wasn’t an akuma attack. But he didn’t. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she looked at her beloved city.

Behind a chimney, camouflaged in the dark night, a pair of green eyes had its own tears. He wanted nothing more than go there, hug her and say that nothing of that mattered, but he would be lying. He had a girlfriend now that was helping him to keep his mind busy and he was sure that with some time he would be able to accept Ladybug’s relationship. He tried to keep things normal at first, but Ladybug was acting strange and things got awkward. He wondered why. 

Chat Noir saw her rising from her sitting position and preparing to leave. He averted his gaze not wanting to see where she was going; it was probably home. Now, more than ever, he couldn’t know who she was. Know that she had a boyfriend was bad, see her happy with him would be devastating. He waited her leave and then left too. Back to his cold life, his empty house, cry himself to sleep once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments. 
> 
> I'm kind of unsure if you guys are liking this story.


	3. A near miss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Misunderstandings and lack of communication bring problems that need to be solved one way or another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the votes and comments.

The akuma attack wasn’t the worst, but Ladybug needed Chat Noir as a distraction at that very moment.

“Where’s that cat?” she muttered angrily as she hid behind a wall.

She heard him landing beside her a moment later and could almost hear him saying “Oh, missed me, My Lady?” with a grin on his face, but she didn’t. Ladybug shook her head, that didn’t belong to them anymore. 

“Where were you?” she asked concealing her disappointment. 

“Sorry. I had problems getting away from my girlfriend.” He wasn’t looking at her. If he was avoiding her or just assessing the scene she couldn’t tell.

“Now you know how it is.” She tried to say as casually as possible.

“Yeah.” He glanced at her “We wouldn’t have this problem if we were dating each other.” He gasped as if just then realizing what he had said. Neither of them had brought the subject up in the two weeks after the incident. “Never mind… So what do we have here?”

Ladybug explained briefly the situation and they jumped into action. However her mind would swirl over his words throughout the fight. He did get a girlfriend, she thought, jealousy slowly draining her senses.

A moment of distraction, it was all it took for the akuma victim to pounce upon Ladybug and snatch one of her earrings. It was all a blur. Chat Noir barely had time to tackle the akumatized person out of Ladybug as she reached for the earring mid-air putting it back before her transformation wore off completely. They managed to win the fight with an uncomfortable silence between them. They excused themselves out of the scene before the press could reach them, but the near miss was there, on the news. It had been a really close call, after all. 

A close call that had led them to where they were now. Sitting on their heels onto a mattress on the ground in front of Master Fu. He was calm, eyeing them. Ladybug had expected him to punish them taking their Miraculous, or at least hers, right away. They, no… she had made a mistake that could have cost the city’s safety. Chat Noir just saved her, again. 

Chat Noir fidgeted with his ring. Used to his father angriness whenever he made a mistake, he found this unsettling. He was sure that the man, whom he discovered to be his master, would take their Miraculous. What was he waiting for? His intense gaze was innerving. Did he have the power to kill them? Chat wished he had known the master before as Ladybug apparently had, maybe he could know what to expect. Well, judging by Ladybug’s nervousness, maybe not. 

“It’s incredible the scenarios that one’s mind can create when there’s lack of communication” Master Fu said at last. 

Chat hadn’t expected his master to be such a small man, but it seemed that wisdom was his true force. He played with their minds making them guess what would happen to teach them that their lack of communication was what led to that mistake. 

“What will be our punishment, Master?” Ladybug asked in a low voice. 

“In the last two weeks I have watched the mess you created in both sides of your masks.” He looked at Chat that seemed surprised to hear that “Of course I know who you are. I chose both of you and I’ve kept an eye on you. Anyway, your civilian’s lives are not of my concern, but your superhero lives are.” He rose from where he was sitting and went for his teapot filling three cups and gave one to each of them. Chat found that strange, but accepted, glad to have something to distract and calm him down. “I chose you based on your individual skills and was pleased to see that you got along so well. I’ve never regretted my decision… until now.” 

“Master, I…” Chat Noir started, but Master Fu raised his hand to silence him.

“I believe that you can get out of this. Something happened between you two and it seems that you are not talking about it. You are a team; you need to communicate to make this work. I confess that I get mesmerized to see how much you two can do without words, as if you’re reading each other’s mind.” That brought a small smile to their faces “But now words are needed. I’ll give you one day to work this out. If you don’t, I expect both Miraculous back tomorrow at this same time. Do you understand me?” 

“Yes, master.” They said in unison. 

“Good. You can go” The superhero duo was reaching the door when the master called “Ladybug, can you stay a little more?”

She looked at Chat Noir. They needed to talk, that was their last chance.

“Eiffel Tower, tonight” he offered and she nodded. 

“You told Chat Noir about your boyfriend, didn’t you?” Master Fu asked when Chat left.

“Yes. He didn’t take it well at first, but then he decided to move on and find a girlfriend to himself.” 

“That was expected. He likes you.” He watched her “But you didn’t like the fact that he has a girlfriend now.” She kept silence “Listen Marinette, I trust you to fix this. Just remember that your identity is not more important than your partnership.”

“I don’t think that telling him my identity will solve this, but I’ll take this to heart.” 

Master Fu felt powerless; knowing full well that if they knew who each other was none of this would have happened. However that was something that he could do little about. It was a decision they needed to make by themselves. The seed was planted though. He had his own regrets for incentivise Ladybug to keep their identities a secret.

“See you tomorrow Ladybug”.

“I won’t bring my Miraculous back, master.” She joked.

“I hope you don’t.” Then she left.

 

When Ladybug arrived at the Eiffel Tower Chat Noir was already there sitting near the edge, hugging both his legs to his chest, chin resting on his knees, crestfallen. Ladybug swallowed thickly. How was she supposed to fix this? He seemed to have heard her breathe heavily because he turned his head to look at her. 

“Didn’t see you arrive.” He returned his gaze to the shining city, sadness imprinted on his face. 

She sat next to him mimicking his position “I’m sorry, Chat. I put us in this mess. I…”

“It was my fault.” He interjected “I let my jealously take over me and I messed up.” She faced him surprised by his words. “You have the right to date whoever you want. You haven’t promised me anything. I just assumed that you would give me a chance and got mad because of a fantasy that I created myself. I tried to keep things normal while respecting your relationship, but it didn’t work. And then today… well, I shouldn’t have said what I said and… I was a little distracted, I didn’t see the akuma attacking you until it was too late.”

“Chat, I…” she begun but he shook his head and turned his body to be facing her.

“Let me continue. You are an amazing superhero. I don’t think that anyone else would be able to solve things so fast with random objects like you do. I don’t want Master Fu taking your Miraculous back.” He hung his head “I’m giving up on mine.”

“Wait, no!” She almost shouted in panic. “You can’t”.

“Of course I can. Master Fu can choose another person to be Chat Noir.”

“I don’t want another Chat Noir.” She gripped his arm “You are my partner. Heck, we are good together.” She looked at her hand and loosened her grip “Sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“That’s fine” he sighed “I’m clearly making you uncomfortable.”

“I have a confession to do” she blurted out.

“Confession?” he was puzzled.

“This is my fault. As you said, you tried to keep things normal, but you weren’t flirting, I understand that you were respecting me and… thanks for that… But I missed you calling me your lady.” She couldn’t meet his eye and he kept quiet not knowing what to say. “I have to be honest with you. I may not love you as you wanted, but… I have feelings for you and when you said that you would try a relationship with your friend I lost my ground. Today when you said that you were with her I lost my balance, as if just then the truth sunk in.”

“You have feelings for me?” Chat Noir’s head was spinning. He tried not to be too happy about it, but that was enough for him to ignore the other things she had said.

“Yeah. And I would never use you as a fallback while still in love with someone else.”

“That’s why you are dating other guy and not me.”

“You get it now. I mean… don’t take me wrong. It’s not like I don’t care about my boyfriend's feelings, but he doesn’t feel for me the same as you do. We’ve just met and… Let’s put it this way… We’re just enjoying each other’s company.”

“I understand. I think I can say the same thing about me and my girlfriend. So, where do we stand?”

Ladybug moved to sit in front of him cross-legged and he did the same, she looked at him in the eye.

“We are aware of our feelings and the fact that we’re both in relationships outside the masks.”

“That’s what Master Fu meant by ‘conversation’.”

“Yeah, that was his intention. He doesn’t want to take our Miraculous from us. We’re friends and partners above all; I’m sure that we can control our jealousy and respect the other’s relationship. We’re better than that.” She took his hands in hers squeezing then gently. 

“Yes, we are. Hum… should I call you “My lady” again? Won’t it be… I don’t know…” he trailed off not knowing exactly what he wanted to say.

“Chat, despite the fact that we’re not romantically involved, I am your lady and you are my kitty, this a part of our partnership that I don’t want to take away. As for the flirting…”

“No flirting, I know.” He raised an eyebrow “What about the puns?” he grinned. 

“No. Please, no puns.” She made an exaggerated gesture putting her hand in her forehead.

“Come on. You love my puns” he laughed.

“Maybe” was her answer between giggles. 

Oh! How they both missed that.


	4. Friend Zone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien stops neglecting his friends.

Adrien got off the car with a spring in his step. Things were good between him and Ladybug again. The previous night, after their reconciliation, they joked, he made puns and she laughed, actually laughed. They decided to race over the rooftops just for fun and he basked in her happiness with the moonlight illuminating her features. It felt like a dream.

He sppoted his friends near the school entrance, he would just say hello as he had been done for the last two weeks, but decided against it. He couldn’t keep avoiding Marinette whenever she was with Luka. It wasn’t her fault that he was such an idiot and lost his chance with her. She was a friend, someone that he could always count on and he was not willing to give that up. He marched to them with a practiced smile on his face. Marinette was giggling from something Alya had said. 

“Good morning guys. What’s so funny?” He directed his question to Marinette.

“Ah. Just Alya bragging about her blog.” She giggled again when Alya playfully shoved her arm. 

“Hey, it’s not funny. It’s really cool. Have you seen my blog today Adrien?” Alya asked bouncing on her feet.

“No. Something new?” His mind went to the night before when he and Ladybug raced across the city; maybe she had gotten images from that.

“Totally new. Ladybug and Chat Noir were seeing yesterday night joking and laughing over the rooftops, unfortunately I don’t have images, but… I have something much better. Look.”

Alya shoved her phone in Adrien’s hand; it was a video with Ladybug’s face in it as if she had made it herself. He hit play.

_“Hello Paris. I know that all of you are wondering what happened this morning. It was a very close call. You probably have noticed that things between Chat Noir and I were... different too. I’ve passed for some personal problems and somehow let this interfere in my duties as Ladybug. I’m here to reassure you that this won’t happen again. Chat Noir and I had a conversation and with his help I will manage my problems; he is aware of them now and it was all I needed. Hawkmoth don’t keep your hopes up, I won’t give in. I’m stronger than ever now.” ___

__Her tone in the beginning was soft, insecure even, but grew stronger until in the end it was threatening, the same tone she had used during the battle against Stone Heart. That was his lady._ _

__“Wow. She apologized.” Adrien was surprised by this. She hadn’t told him she would do that, otherwise he would be by her side, it was his fault too. Well he wasn’t about to argue with her. “How did you get this video?” he was curious._ _

__“She sent me. It was very late and I only saw it this morning. I posted it immediately. Isn’t it awesome?! She sent it to my blog and not to the press. I’m on cloud nine.”_ _

__“It shows” Adrien laughed at her antics. “But, well, your blog is a reliable source for the superhero stuff, so it makes sense that she sent it to you. And the press can get it from there and spread it, right?”_ _

__“Adrien’s right. She probably knows that you won’t manipulate the video or just didn’t want to give commercial advantage to a TV channel. Well your blog is dedicated to her and Chat Noir, so…” Or she’s your best friend and trusts you – Marinette added mentally._ _

__“You guys should get going.” Luka said “See you for lunch, Mari”. He kissed her cheek._ _

__“Wait. How about we have lunch together, all of us?” Adrien asked and the others looked at him surprised, he felt guilty for neglecting his friends “I’m having lunch with Kagami and I wanted to properly introduce her to you.”_ _

__“Are you sure that your girlfriend will want to join us peasants, dude?” Nino asked half-joking, half-serious._ _

__“What? Who called you that? It sure wasn’t Kagami. She’s eager to join the crew.”_ _

__“It was Chloé actually, but since you have been distant…” Nino said with a hurt expression._ _

__“I’m sorry, I’ve been busier lately and had some problems troubling me. That’s all.”_ _

__“It’s ok Adrien.” Marinette intervened “We can have lunch together. Is it ok to you Luka?”_ _

__“Of course, see you guys later. Now, go!” He shoved them inside the school; Marinette turned her head to stick her tongue at her boyfriend what just made him laugh. Adrien couldn’t help the twinge of jealousy, but he was the only one to blame._ _

__

__The lunchtime was a bit awkward to Marinette, she had talked to Kagami before when Adrien introduced them months ago, but now she was dating him. Kagami had her arms around his waist when they arrived and she made sure to show off how great Adrien was as a boyfriend. Marinette was about to explode with jealousy, so she focused on her own boyfriend. Now lunch was going on smoothly, at least for her._ _

__In the other side of the table, Adrien was bored. He faked interest in Nino’s conversation about games, but in front of him was Marinette engaged in a conversation about a band in USA with her boyfriend and at his side was Kagami, talking non-stop with Alya about none other than Ladybug._ _

__Adrien wanted to scream. Why? When he started dating her, he wanted to take Ladybug out of his head, but it proved impossible. Kagami was obsessed with her. They shared many interests and it was great, but this one… And now, it had been ten minutes already that he was hearing the two girls praising Ladybug’s deeds. Not that he thought the heroine didn’t deserve it, she did. However he would prefer not hear it. Being reminded of how wonderful she is wasn’t helping to cure his still broken heart. He needed to do something._ _

__The blond model looked at Kagami’s untouched plate and smirked, she hated when he stole her food. He reached for his fork and silently, like the cat he was, stole every carrot in her plate._ _

__“What are you doing Agreste?” Oh, it worked “You stole my carrots. I can’t believe it, give them back.” She was angry._ _

__“You weren’t eating.” He popped one piece of carrot in his mouth._ _

__“Why didn’t you get the broccolis?”_ _

__“You love carrots.” He teased._ _

__“You just want to pester me, your dork. Give them back.” She tried to reach for the carrots, but he held the plate above his head._ _

__“Dudes, you’re fighting over carrots. Who on earth fight over carrots?” was Nino’s exasperated question seeing his best friend being so silly._ _

__The others at the table giggled and Marinette once more felt jealous about how comfortable they were._ _

__“I propose a deal” Adrien said at last._ _

__“What deal?”_ _

__“I give you the carrots back and you and Alya stop talking about Ladybug.”_ _

__“Why? Ladybug is awesome.” Kagami replied incredulous._ _

__“I completely agree with you, but you two were talking about her for ages.” He complained. Kagami took advantage of his moment of distraction and snatched her carrots back._ _

__Just to tease Adrien, Kagami and Alya started to talk about Ladybug again. Nino and Luka exchanged a look and added to the conversation. Adrien pulled at his hair._ _

__“Fine. You want war, that’s what you’ll have.”_ _

__Marinette became redder than her Ladybug costume. She was basically witnessing a contest of who could praise her alter-ego more. To make matters worse, Adrien was winning. She rested her head on the table and looked at Tikki that was stifling a giggle. Marinette gave in and bursted into laughter. Five pairs of curious eyes looked at her._ _

__“You guys are worse than Manon.” She said when her laugh subdued, just to start laughing again, followed by her friends._ _

__Well, they would never be allowed at that restaurant again. Fortunately there wasn’t a paparazzi there._ _


	5. Not a good help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien tries to help, but makes things worse. Or not? Let's look at the big picture.

Hawkmoth pulled at his non-existing hair when Ladybug purified his newest akuma. Three weeks ago he had felt that victory was close enough that he would have their Miraculous by now. When he had seen the video at the Ladyblog he laughed at Ladybug's bluff. Then she wasn’t bluffing. Ladybug and Chat Noir were stronger than ever.

With the flirting absence and Chat Noir focused on the battles instead of trying to draw Ladybug’s attention the fights were easier and shorter. Their harmony was so visible that there were rumors that the heroes of Paris were secretly dating, but no one dared to ask them personally and they didn’t bother to deny nor to confirm. Chat Noir and Ladybug had agreed that as long as people were happy with their work they could think whatever they wanted about their love life. Deep in their hearts, both had hopes that that could be true someday. 

Marinette had giving up on Adrien in this meantime. She still loved him with all her heart, but his relationship with Kagami was clearly serious and he seemed happier than ever; Marinette was happy for him. However she was sure that her own relationship with Luka wouldn’t last long. It was getting too hard to find excuses for her disappearances.

Adrien was happy; he had a girlfriend that understood his family problems and got along surprisingly well with his friends. Because of her, his father had given him more freedom to go out and the same went to her mother. To two locked up teenagers it was a relationship sent from heaven. 

Today was an easy battle; maybe because Ladybug was eager to end the fight. She was probably needed somewhere else, something that Chat Noir completely understood. She accepted his offer to stay behind to talk to the journalists. After that, he chose a place near the park to detransform, he wanted to buy something sweet at the bakery and with some luck, talk to his friend. When he was close he heard Marinette’s voice.

“I was hiding from the akuma” she was nervous, he could sense that.

“The akuma was far away from where you should be Marinette.” Said Luka’s angry voice.

Were they quarreling? That’s what it seemed. Adrien knew he shouldn’t be eavesdropping, but he had seen Marinette near the attack. She was telling the truth.

“I went there for some inspiration and lost track of time, then the attack begun and…” 

“You always lose track of time. I’m tired of this.”

This was it. Adrien was going to help her. He approached as if he hadn’t heard anything. 

“Hey guys.” 

“Hi Adrien” Luka growled visibly upset by the interruption, but Adrien didn’t pay him any mind.

“Did you have time to finish your sketch before the attack, Marinette? I want to see the real deal when you finish. I bet that it will be amazing.” 

Marinette was confused at first, but Adrien noticed when it clicked and she rolled with it.

“I’m almost done. I had to hide from the akuma. Ahm… did you get home safely?”

“Wait. You were with her at Trocadero?” Luka was surprised; she hadn’t mentioned it.

“Yeah. I was around when I saw her there sketching. I like to watch when I have the opportunity. It’s amazing. She makes it seem so easy.” Luka raised an eyebrow at Adrien’s enthusiasms “Then I went home right before the attack.”

“Glad you made it safe to your house” Luka then turned to his girlfriend “And you had to hide.” 

“I had already told you that.” 

“Any problem?” Adrien asked feigning innocence. 

“No, no problem. See you around.” Luka replied dismissing Adrien unceremoniously.

“See ya.” There was nothing more he could do for her. He just hoped it was enough. 

The couple entered the building and headed to Marinette’s room. Since the movie was out of question now, they could at least play video game. That was Marinette’s intention, not Luka’s.

“So Adrien is the guy with whom you’ve been cheating on me.” Luka stated when he stepped into her room. 

“What?” Marinette was speechless being caught off guard. If he was thinking that why didn’t he make a scene down there?

“Don’t you think that I didn’t notice how you act around him. What I haven’t expected was that he liked you back, but everything makes sense now. He avoided us as a couple for a while. I bet that he regretted to have helped set us up and then he got a girlfriend. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is just a cover for your little trysts.”

“We don’t have trysts. What you’re saying makes no sense. I’m not cheating on you.” She was enraged. 

“You like him. You can’t deny.” He barked.

“I’m not denying, but he doesn’t feel the same.” How could he even think that? 

“He was there with you today and you haven’t even mentioned it. We had a date and you were with the guy you like. How many times have this happened? All the times you were late, were you with him?” Luka paced nervously. That was not how he intended to do this.

“It was just today and he was there as a friend.” Adrien definitely had made things worse.

“Sure, a friend. That adoration when he talked about you sketching was just my imagination then.” He said sarcastically.

“I don’t know about that, but I’m not cheating on you.” She needed to convince him, but how?

“Look, Marinette. I don’t even want to know if you are or not. To make things less difficult I’ll just pretend that you’re not.” He lowered his tone.

“I’m not.” She felt like stomping her foot like a child. 

“It doesn’t matter. I was going to break up with you anyway.” He said flatly.

“You what?” 

“Long distance relationships are bound to sink and since you never actually loved me our chances were minimal, so.” 

“Are you moving out?” she was surprised. He had said nothing about it before.

“That band in US is going to make an album and they want me to join them.”

“Wow, that’s amazing. You were waiting for an opportunity like this for a while.” 

“Thanks.” He smiled sadly. “You know, that was the part where you would cry and beg me to stay.” He turned his back to her. “I guess that won’t happen.” He felt her hand on his arm.

“You really like me, don’t you?” he didn’t answer, which was already an answer. “I’m sorry for being such a terrible girlfriend” she sighed “but I guarantee you that I've never cheated on you Luka. If you ask Alya, my parents and even my teachers, all of them can tell you that I’m always late. It doesn’t have anything to do with Adrien.”

“You were an amazing girlfriend” he said turning to face her. “You just need to work on your tardiness, you know. No boy can buy your excuses.”

Marinette’s mind raced to Chat Noir. He was the only one that could understand her. Why did she have to make things so complicated? If only she wasn’t so impulsive. 

“I liked our time together Luka. You are a great boy and any girl will be happy to have you. Well… you’ll probably have plenty of choice in America, especially when you become famous.” 

“I don’t want fangirls. I want someone like you.” He chuckled “Maybe someone like you that really likes me.” She punched his arm playfully. “Ouch!”

“I like you.”

“You know what I mean.” She hang her head “That’s ok. We’re going to continue friends, right?” he smiled.

“Of course and I expect to receive an autographed CD.”

“Jeez, she’s going to be my friend out of interest.” she laughed “I’ll have the band to sign it for you, but it will take a while.”

“I’m in no hurry.” She smiled and that was what he wanted to remember, her beautiful smile. 

He felt lucky to have had such an amazing girlfriend. It was good while it lasted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story is almost in the end. One or two chapters left.


	6. Identities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When there are too many coincidences to ignore the truth.

“Plagg, do you think that I have something to do with Luka breaking up with Marinette?” Adrien asked when he finished his homework. He couldn’t take off his head the news Nino had told him.

“Didn’t Nino tell you Luka’s going to America?” Plagg asked when he swallowed his cheese.

“Yes, but they were arguing and I kinda stepped in… I’m not sure if I helped. I mean… I wanted to help, but he didn’t seem convinced. What if I added to their situation?” the sensation that he had caused their rupture was unsettling. 

“Kid, just relax. You did what you could. If the guy is jealous of you it’s not your fault.” 

Adrien laughed “Why would he be jealous of me, plagg? You’re funny sometimes.”

Plagg took another bite of his cheese and munched it deliberately slow trying to keep his mouth busy. He wanted so badly to spill the beans; he needed a distraction so he did the only thing that would keep him from opening his mouth.

“You know what. Why don’t you take a stroll? It might help you.”

His chosen looked at him suspiciously, but didn’t question. He wouldn’t miss on the opportunity to transform without Plagg complaining. 

“Thanks, Plagg claws out.”

Plagg was right leaping over the rooftops, feeling the breeze caressing his face blowing his hair helped to settle his mind, even though he still wanted to talk to Marinette. Chat Noir looked at the direction of her house. There was a chance that she was on her balcony just like that other day when she was sad. If she was there he could pretend to be passing by and pry some information. 

To his disappointment, she wasn’t there. He went towards the Eiffel Tower then, not quite prepared to return to his house. He wasn’t expecting to see Ladybug lying under the night sky, a blank expression on her face. Chat took a moment to admire her beauty, but shook his head realizing that it wasn’t right. 

“Stargazing, My lady?” he asked sitting near her.

“Rough day. Lay here with me, kitty” she tapped the place beside her.

“If you want to talk, I’m all ears. I have two pairs by the way.” He chuckled, but she said nothing. They stayed in a comfortable silence contemplating the stars for some time.

“Sometimes I wonder how she is” Ladybug said.

”Who?”

“Your girlfriend. You’ve never talked about her. How is she, Chat?” she turned her body to look at him resting her head in one hand.

She wasn’t sure of what had motivated her question. Maybe she just hoped that he had made up a girlfriend and with Luka out of the way they could be together. 

“Well… she is a beautiful girl, same age as me; her hair is the same shade as yours. I think that it was the first thing I noticed about her. She’s funny and kind too.”

“Are you happy with her? What’s your relationship like?” 

He thought for a moment and Ladybug clung to the possibility that he was making something up.

“We have similar family background, so we understand each other; we also have many common interests. She is kind of crazy about you, that’s definitely a problem. We have so much fun together and best of all, my friends love her.” He may not have realized how passionate he was when talking about her, but Ladybug felt her hopes dissolve in thin air. She returned to look at the sky. “What about your boyfriend? You don’t talk about him either.” He asked.

“We broke up.” She said emotionless.

“What?!” Chat rose up in surprise. Was the universe playing tricks on him? The two girls he liked were free again. “Ah… sorry, you took me by surprise.”

“I told you it was a matter of time that he would think I was cheating on him. It happened. Today, actually. We had set a date to the time the akuma stroke.”

“During the battle I figured that you were needed somewhere… Was it bad? I mean… was he angry? He didn’t hurt you, did he?” Chat was concerned; cheating was something some guys didn’t handle well. 

“No, Chat. He’s a nice guy. We’re good, still friends. He was going to break up with me anyway.”

“Why?”

“He got an invitation to join a band in America. It was something he had wanted for a while.”

Chat’s heart sped up. It can be just a coincidence. He reminded himself.

“He just used the cheating thing as an excuse then.”

“No, but it made his decision easier. He wasn’t believing my excuse that I was hiding from the akuma, not exactly thinking that I was cheating… but a friend of mine showed up and said that I was with him before the attack. My boyfriend… ex-boyfriend thought that I was cheating on him with my friend.”

Chat felt sick in the stomach, Ladybug was Marinette. Too many coincidences to not be her and it meant that he was the one responsible for them breaking up. He gulped.

“It was your friend’s fault then.” He was afraid of her answer. She must be blaming him, hating even. 

“He was just trying to help. It would have been just a white lie and actually have worked if my boyfriend weren't aware that he is the boy I like.” She glanced up at Chat when she heard him moan “Chat, are you alright?” Ladybug got up quickly as she saw his state.

He was pale, hands slightly shaking, looking like he was about to faint. She put both her hands in his shoulders and shook him.

“Chat, what happened? Talk to me, please.” 

He slowly left his state of inertia and looked in her eyes. “I’m an idiot. A complete, utterly idiot. You’ve liked me all this time and I failed to see it.” He turned away from her pacing the Eiffel Tower.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.” 

“You will” he stared at her “claws in”.

Ladybug shielded her eyes from the light not getting how knowing his identity could make her understand him, but when she looked at him everything fell into place. The boy she loved, the one she claimed to know everything about was her partner, and she had rejected him because of... him. 

“You…” she couldn’t form a sentence. 

“See. I am the idiot that helped to set you up with Luka and then got mad because you were dating him.”

Her mind was racing. She raised her hand to him. “Time. I need some time.” She managed to say with her eyes closed. 

She sat on the ground trying to understand the mess they have created. He sat not far away from her, but kept a safe distance. Plagg chose not to interfere.

“We are both idiots” she said at last. “I rejected you for you and now I’m in love with both sides of you.” She groaned in frustration.

“I thought that if Marinette was happy with someone else it would be easier to control my feelings.” He noticed her surprised expression. “I’m in love with both sides of you too.” He smiled at her. 

“I understand now why Master Fu advised me to reveal our identities. However the damage was already done.” 

“I’m sorry about Luka. I thought I was helping.” He couldn’t look at her ashamed.

“Don’t be. I manage to convince him I wasn’t cheating. I told you we’re fine.”

“Well…” Adrien took a deep breath for courage “you and Luka are not together anymore and it’s clear that we have strong feelings for each other. There’s nothing holding us back, we can be tog…”

“Are you crazy?” she cut him off “You are forgetting something big here Adrien.” he looked confused and she couldn’t believe that. “You have a girlfriend.”

“Oh, yeah, I do, but it’s just a matter of breaking up with her.” 

Her expression was one of pure horror.

“You can’t just say that. Minutes ago you were all happy telling about how good your relationship is. Have you forgotten that I see you with her on a daily basis? You can’t convince me that you don’t like her. Not when you are so comfortable with her.”

“You’re right. I have a girlfriend and shouldn’t even have mentioned that. I’m sorry, I don’t want to spoil things between us.” She got up and he followed suit. 

“Are you able to transform again?” he looked at Plagg and nodded “I’m going then”. 

He watched her leave with his hands in his pockets. 

“Are you just going to let her go like this?” Plagg was confused.

“There’s nothing I can do at this moment. My hands are tied.” 

“But…” Plagg was dumbfounded.

 

Marinette arrived late at school looking beaten. It was expected after the end of her relationship with Luka, so no one questioned her. Adrien was quieter, but talked normally with everybody, including her. He was clearly making an effort to keep their friendship, but could she? 

Marinette was at the lockers when she witnessed the look of happiness plastered on Adrien’s face as he saw Kagami arriving for fencing. He circled her shoulders with his arm and said something to her that Marinette wasn’t able to hear. She hid when they passed near her not wanting him to know she was there. When they were out of sight she slid her back against the locker sitting on the ground, tears threatening to fall.

“Oh girl! I didn’t know you liked Luka this much.” Alya that was talking to Nino nearby approached kneeling beside her. Marinette cried on her shoulder for a while, but eventually calmed down. “Do you want me to go to your house later?” 

“No” she wiped her tears “I’ll help my parents at the bakery and then I’m gonna rest. I didn’t sleep well this night.” 

“If you need me, don’t hesitate to call.” Alya said as she helped her friend get up.

“Thanks.” 

Marinette looked at her purse where Tikki was. She wasn’t going to rest; she was going to Master Fu’s to return her Miraculous hoping that he could understand her reasons.


	7. A different perspective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kagami opens her heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a crucial chapter. What's in here supported my whole story. Hope you like it.

Marinette rushed to her room as soon as her parents didn’t need her anymore. She needed to go see Master Fu before she changed her mind.

“Are you sure you want to do that?” The sadness in Tikki’s voice broke Marinette’s heart even more.

“I can’t handle this Tikki. It will be painful enough to see Adrien at school... Maybe I’m being weak letting my emotions control me, but I can’t risk the world’s safety. I don’t want to make the same mistake twice.”

Tikki wanted to say that everything would be ok, but she knew better than that. “I’m gonna miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too.” Tikki hugged Marinette’s cheeks with her tiny hands. “oh… let me see that.” Marinette reached for her phone that had lit up. Seven missed calls from Adrien and four messages. 

“Why don’t you read them?” Tikki asked hoping that something could change.

“What can he tell me Tikki? You didn’t see how happy he was with her even after yesterday. I have to face that he never really loved me, maybe Ladybug, but not me.” she wiped a tear “I’d better go.” 

Marinette descended the stairs feeling the weight of her decision. Being Ladybug was a big part of her life. Sure it would be dangerous if she couldn’t keep her emotions in check, but was she doing the right thing? She intended to talk to Master Fu first, maybe he could find a solution, but what if he just accepted her Miraculous back? She reached for her phone to read Adrien’s messages hoping for some kind of miracle. 

_“You didn’t answer my calls. I’m assuming you're busy. Call me back.”_

_“Are you ignoring me? Please, say you’re not.”_

_“Mari, we need to talk. Don’t ignore me.”_

_“If you don’t answer me I’ll show up at your house.”_

Marinette chewed at her bottom lip. He seemed desperate. What did he have to tell her? Could it be the miracle she was hoping for? She was thinking on what to type when the doorbell rang. Her heart raced as she reached for the knob. Surprise filled her face when she saw who was there.

“Can we talk?” Kagami asked in a serious voice. 

“Hum… sure. Come in.” Marinette gulped, why was Adrien’s girlfriend at her house? It wouldn’t be the first time since they were friends, but… now? “Do you want to go to my room?” Kagami nodded and Marinette led her upstairs. 

“Adrien told me you are the girl he is in love with.” 

It puzzled Marinette. Kagami wasn’t angry, just serious. Didn’t she care? Was she there to threaten her in some way? 

“I don’t know if Adrien told you, but I have no intention to break you two apart.”

“Yes, he told me. And I do hope you don’t want to break us apart, it would be too difficult to me if I lost what we have, our friendship I mean. About our ‘love relationship’, it was all fake.”

“Fake? It didn’t seem fake at all.” What Kagami had said made no sense to Marinette.

“When Adrien asked me out one month ago he said he wanted to be honest with me. He told me he liked someone that was forbidden to him and since we were already good friends he thought it would be a good idea… I felt that I should be honest with him too.” Marinette waited attentively while Kagami hesitated staring at the window “I told him that I don’t like boys like that… I like girls.” She dropped her head and Marinette assumed that she had problems with that. 

“But why fake date then?” Marinette tried not to show her immense relief for Adrien not being out of reach anymore. 

“I told Adrien that my mother was pressuring me about my lack of interest in boys and that was why I accepted to go out with him in the first place.”

“Adrien must have been disappointed.” Marinette stifled a giggle.

“He laughed and said he was the unluckiest boy alive.” Marinette couldn’t argue with that; even her, the Lady Luck had been unlucky in this whole situation “He was the one to propose the fake date. He was sure his father would give him more freedom once we were dating, it could give him the distraction he needed and it would get my mother off my back. We didn’t know we would get along so well. He is someone that I can confide the problems I have with my mother.”

“And he understands you because he goes through a similar situation.” Marinette remembered the first time she saw them together in front of the school. He was comforting her as a friend, nothing more. She never thought about it till now, but other than quick pecks for the press she had never seen them kissing. It totally made sense now.

“It feels like we were siblings. It’s hard to explain.”

“I understand. I know him well enough to know what you mean. What I don’t understand is why he didn’t tell me his relationship with you was fake when we talked.” 

“He knew you wouldn’t believe him if he didn’t tell you the whole story and being the gentleman he is, he would never spill my secret without my consent. He called me this morning asking me to arrive earlier for fencing. I’ve never seen him so happy to see me. It was funny to see how eager he was to end our relationship and go after you. He even faked headache to ditch fencing.” She frowned “But you didn’t answer his calls and he called me desperate for help.” 

“I was busy at the bakery.” Marinette said guiltily.

“He really likes you, Marinette” Kagami sat beside her in the chaise taking her hand “give him a chance. I know that Luka just broke up with you and it may not be the right time, but just give him hope if that is the case. I had my suspicious that you were the girl he was in love with from the beginning, when I first met him. It became clearer when I noticed that it was difficult for him to be near you and Luka. I can say that you have feelings for him too. I’m not an obstacle for you two being together, you know.”

“Won’t you have problems with your mother again?” 

“One month relationship is not a long time, but it will do. I’m only fourteen and now she thinks that I have interest in boys. Adrien and now you are the only ones that know about this. You can’t tell anyone, ok? My mother is strict and prejudiced about this subject; I’d rather not face this just yet.” 

“I won’t, you can trust me.” Marinette couldn’t help her curiosity “If you don’t mind me asking, how did you… ahm… figured out you like girls and not boys? Is it something you always knew?” 

“I was homeschooled and didn’t have much contact with people my age, so I never paid attention to this. It was just recently that I discovered I like girls when… Promise you won’t laugh?” she fidgeted with the hem of her shirt.

“You have my word.” Marinette assured her not sure what could be funny in this.

“When Ladybug talked to me right after she freed me from the akumatization I felt my heart speed up and butterflies in the stomach, something I had never felt.” 

Fortunately for Marinette, Kagami wasn’t looking at her; otherwise she would have serious problems to hide her embarrassment. _‘She’s kind of crazy about you’_ Chat Noir had said. Dammit, he knew. 

“She’s so amazing.” Kagami continued with a lovesick expression “I know it’s just a celebrity crush and she is more likely dating Chat Noir, but it was what made me pay more attention to my feelings. I feel like this near other girls too, but never with boys, not even with Adrien and he is a fairly handsome boy.” She looked at Marinette and noticed her rosy cheeks “Oh, I’m sorry, I’m embarrassing you.”

“No, no, you can continue.” 

“Well… I can talk about this another time, if you are willing to hear me, that is. It’s so good to be able to talk about my feelings that I forgot the real reason I came here for. So, will you give him a chance?”

“I’ll call him as soon as you leave.”

“Oh, waste no more time. I’m leaving. Call me later.” Her last words were already coming from downstairs.

Marinette could only laugh at Kagami’s antics, or was it because she was feeling lighter than air? 

 

“Why is it taking so long? One of them should have called by now.” Adrien paced impatiently with his phone in hand.

“You know how women like to talk. They are probably having fun at your expenses now.” Adrien glared at Plagg.

“I’m serious Plagg. I’ll have a heart attack at this rate.”

“I don’t think she will call you.” That made Adrien look at his phone upset. “Jeez, just look at your window.”

Adrien turned to look at the window and Ladybug waved at him. In his haste to open it for her he tripped in his own feet. 

“You can be as clumsy as me, I see.” She giggled landing on his bedroom floor.

“Did Kagami talk to you?” she nodded “And…?” he was beyond expectant. 

She didn’t answer; instead Ladybug reached for his nape and pulled him to her lips. They had wasted too much time already to waste more with words. After a brief moment of surprise he melted into her kiss following her lead. It didn’t matter to him that she had experience and he hadn’t. Because the way she was kissing him could only mean one thing: she was finally his. 

“I thought you wouldn’t even try.” She said resting her head in his chest. 

“I couldn’t do anything without talking to her first.” He kissed her head and inhaled her sweet fragrance. He hoped that it wasn’t another dream. 

“You’re the most considerate person I know.” She looked up at him. “I love you so much.” 

“I’ve waited to hear this for so long…” he kissed her gently “I love you too.” He rested his forehead in hers. “Why don’t you drop your transformation?”

She did that and he led her to his couch. Plagg caught Tikki’s attention and they found a cozy place to talk. Adrien leaned against one arm of the couch and pulled Marinette’s back to his chest and started playing with her hair.

“So, what exactly Kagami told you?” he needed to know the extension of their conversation to not make any mistake.

“Hum… that your relationship with her is fake, that she is lesbian and has problems with her mother and you helped her with that…” He hummed in agreement at each thing she said. “And… that she has a crush in me well… Ladybug. God that was embarrassing.” 

He chuckled “Why did she tell you that?”

“I was curious to know how she found out that she liked girls.” Marinette said sheepishly.

“And she told you the whole story.” He shifted his position to catch a glimpse of her red face “Curiosity killed the cat, or in this case the bug.” He laughed and she elbowed him “Ouch!”

“You deserved it.” She pouted and he found it adorable.

“My bad. So, what now?” Marinette looked at him confused. “I don’t think that we can just show up at school tomorrow as a couple. You just broke up your relationship and I am yet to announce the end of mine.”

“You are right.” She fidgeted with the ring in his hand that was on top of her belly. “But Ladybug and Chat Noir can make their relationship official, since everybody thinks they’re already dating.”

“Good thinking, but what about the civilian us?”

“I think you have to keep your relationship for a while.”

“I don’t understand. Why?”

“First, it would be suspicious if you break up with Kagami now. Luka can return to the idea that I was cheating on him with you and neither of us want that.” Adrien felt a pang of guilt in his heart as he nodded his agreement. “Second, it will give you two more time to find an excuse to break up.”

“Hum… makes sense, but don’t you mind?”

“Well… unless everything both of you said to me were lies, I don’t see a problem.” She shifted to sit in front of him and be able to look in his eyes.

“It’s true. There’s nothing between us but friendship. I promise.” He said without hesitation. “Plus, we’re not like that when we’re alone. I just hold her hand, hug her or kiss to convince the public.” He felt Marinette relax. She wouldn’t say it, but she was a bit jealous.

“That’s a relief.” She admitted. “This is it. We’re going to keep a secret relationship for a while. Kagami can even cover for us.”

“She’ll happily do it.” 

“And in about one month we can come out as a couple. What do you think?”

“Purrfect.” He winked and leaned forward to kiss her to seal the deal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are always welcomed guys. Please tell me your opinion.


	8. Tying up the loose ends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien and Marinette have to get together in their civilian lives too. How are they going to do this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter. Thanks for reading, voting and commenting.

Marinette opened on her computer the picture Luka had sent her. He was smiling surrounded by the members of his band at the studio. It had been almost a month and they were working hard. Since the band had already made some arrangements when he arrived, they expected to have the final product soon. 

“Cheating on me with your ex? You hurt me, princess.” Chat Noir said from behind Marinette making her jump in surprise almost falling on the floor, but he caught her on time. “Careful.” He chuckled and straightened her up.

“You scared me.” She panted “You didn’t knock.”

“The window was opened.” Chat eyed the picture “He seems happy. Who’s that girl beside him?”

“The female vocalist. She also plays the guitar.” 

“They are a lot close there.” He studied his girlfriend for any signs of jealousy but found none.

“He said they are getting to know each other. Nothing solid yet.” Marinette spun her chair to face him. “I told him we’re together.”

“This explains the threatening message.”

“Threatening message?”

“If you make her suffer, I’ll kill you.” Chat mimicked Luka’s voice and Marinette laughed. “I thought we had agreed to wait a little more.”

“I know, but since your relationship with Kagami is officially over… I thought he had the right to know. I warned him that no one else knows. He wished us happiness.” She turned off her computer. “What do you wanna do?” She stood up and embraced him.

“Just be with you” Adrien tilted her head up and kissed her. “I had a hard time with the press today.” 

Marinette could see that he was tired and upset. Apart from dealing with the press, his father wasn’t pleased about the end of his relationship. There wasn’t a scandal, they had said they preferred to be just friends since their schedule were too tight and barely had time to be together. Gabriel decided to take Adrien’s extra freedom back, what made him extremely sad. 

“We can cuddle and watch a movie or just talk.” Marinette said as she took his hand and led him to her chaise.

“Cuddle’s nice. If I watch a movie I’ll sleep.” He said already snuggling up on her. “And I don’t want to sleep.”

He detransformed to give Plagg a break and they talked, enjoying the comfort of each other. Moments like this were precious to them. It was the only time they could show their affections as Adrien and Marinette.

At school they were just friends or so they were trying to be. However their classmates weren’t as blind as they thought. Glances, secret smiles, casual hand touching… their proximity was obvious and was driving everyone crazy. One day someone finally lost it.

“Why don’t you two date already?” Said Chloé slamming her locker’s door making everyone around jump in surprise. Marinette and Adrien that had been whispering and giggling stared at her with wide eyes. “I don’t know who you are trying to fool, us or yourselves.”

“I hate to agree with Chloé, but we can’t stand it anymore.” Alya stood beside Chloé and a chorus of agreements came from all their classmates. 

Marinette looked at Adrien communicating without words in a very Ladybug and Chat Noir manner. It was time.

“It’s not it guys. We’re just…” Marinette began.

“No, Marinette.” Adrien interrupted her. “I’ve been wanting to tell you for a while.” He took a deep breath “I really like you and wanted us to be more than friends.” This was just to be an acting, but he felt his palms sweat, his heart race and he was sure that it wasn’t because he had an audience. Despite the fact that they were already dating he was nervous. He knew she wouldn’t change her mind; he just couldn’t help his worries. He took her hand in his and pondered if he should go down on one knee. He decided against it; he wasn’t Chat Noir at the moment “Will you be my girlfriend?”

“Y-you like me… like for real?” she stuttered and he smiled, she hadn’t stuttered in a long time. Was she nervous too or just pretending? He nodded not trusting the emotion in his voice. They were going public and that would change everything. “I will. Of course I will. I like you too.” She smiled sweetly and he released the breath he didn’t noticed he was holding. 

“Kiss her Agreste.” Alix challenged him.

He gladly accepted the challenge and kissed Marinette passionately. It took everyone by surprise, no one had expect him give her more than a quick peck like he used to give Kagami. 

“Dude, we’re in school. You don’t kiss like this in school.” Nino censured making the others laugh.

“Alix challenged me.” Adrien said when he ended the kiss, but kept holding his now girlfriend by the waist.

“What about your father? What are you going to tell him?” Marinette asked looking up at him clearly worried.

Adrien didn’t have a chance to answer when a familiar voice echoed from behind his classmates.

“You don’t need to worry about it, Adrien.” Kagami said making her way towards them. “He summoned me to explain why we broke up and I told him that you liked someone else. To my surprise he was happy to know that this someone was the talented aspiring to fashion design that won one of his contests and somehow he already knew that Marinette liked you back.”

“How did he know?” Adrien directed his question to Marinette.

“I… ahm… told him myself?” she stammered.

“You did? When?” Adrien was astonished as was everyone else.

“Long story. I’ll tell you later.” Grunts were heard from their friends and Marinette sighed “I went to see him once to ask something about fashion and ended up saying more than I should. He was considerate enough to not tell Adrien anything.” This placated the group, but Adrien knew it wasn’t everything. She would tell him when she got the chance; he was sure of it.

“He was happy then. Did he say something else?” Adrien asked Kagami to avert the attention from Marinette. 

“Just that he was going to wait for you to tell him. By the amount of praises he paid to Marinette I’m sure this will be an easy thing for you.” Kagami looked at Chloé “Well… I came here to fetch you. We have some shopping to do, remember?”

“Of course. Shopping is all I need to take this lovey-dovey stuff from my head.” Chloé said linking arms with Kagami, but not without glancing at Adrien with a smile on her lips.

Adrien and Marinette glanced at each other, if they found the proximity of the two girls suspicious neither of them mentioned it. It wasn’t their business after all.

 

Ladybug sat atop the Eiffel Tower with her legs dangling on its edge. One year had passed since she went there to think about her complicated life. After all the complications they had gone through they manage to be together in both sides of the masks and their lives were turned upside down, in a good way this time.

Life was much easier; they no longer had to hide from each other and they were spared from a lot of excuses since people just assume they were together when they disappeared. Well they actually were, just not in the way they thought. Ladybug and Chat Noir were stronger than ever and with other superheroes' help once in a while, Hawkmoth was having trouble. He even dropped the number of akumatizations, he was either getting tired or found something else to focus on. Master Fu was proud of them and sometimes would question himself as to why he insisted so much in secrecy in the first place, but then he had to remind himself that there’s a time for everything.

Marinette’s parents had practically adopted Adrien. They filled his life with love and treated him like a son. He even helped in the back of the bakery sometimes with the consent of his father. Gabriel said that it would be good for Adrien to learn some real life work and treated Marinette like a daughter himself. He was delighted by Marinette’s creativity and promised her an internship when time was right. Sometimes Adrien would get a little jealous seeing his father give more attention to his girlfriend than to him, but then again, most of their interaction was about designs and the fashion world and Adrien decided that he preferred to talk about pastries and sweets with Tom and Sabine. 

Adrien had freedom again to hang out with his friends, as long as it was with Marinette. It wasn’t a problem to him; since his best friend was dating Marinette’s best friend he always had alone time with Nino while the girls would do whatever they do when they are alone. Kagami and, surprisingly, Chloé would take part in the group at times. 

“Any problem, my Lady? I thought you would be at home.” Chat Noir asked sitting beside her. 

She looked at him feigning to be sad “I had to ditch a date with my boyfriend today; I hope he’s not mad at me.”

“Oh! What a coincidence, I had to stand up my girlfriend too. I’m certain that she is not pleased with it.” He grinned. “I’ll make it up to her.”

“Really? How?” Ladybug asked and he produced a tub of ice-cream and two spoons from behind him.

“Improvising.” He chuckled and she shoved his arm.

“You could just have taken me to Andre, you know. He’s near the Louvre.” 

“Like this?” he gestured to Ladybug and himself.

“Why not? Aren’t we a couple?” his entire face lit up.

“Let’s go then.” He attempted to stand up but she held his arm.

“We can do it another day, kitty. I was just _kitten_. This is _purr_ fect” he swallowed hard, he loved when she made cat puns “Who else can share ice-cream looking at the most beautiful sight of Paris?” 

He looked at her, illuminated by the moonlight, among the lights of the Eiffel Tower, nothing could compare to her beauty at that moment. The girl who had changed his entire life and gave him the love he so longed for. He felt the luckiest person alive. “Yeah, who else can share ice-cream looking at the most beautiful sight of Paris?” _But me._


End file.
